


When you wish upon a star

by Ford_Ye_Fiji



Category: Over the Garden Wall
Genre: Angst, Gen, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, I guess there's hurt/comfort, Poor Wirt, Sadness, Someone stop me, These two will kill me, cries, otgw - Freeform, someone hug greg, they are adorable, wirt is a precious gnome child and Greg is adorable you can't stop me from loving him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 12:52:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9124555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ford_Ye_Fiji/pseuds/Ford_Ye_Fiji
Summary: Greg never gets his wish from the Cloud Queen.(You are so lucky, I wasn't going to give this a happy ending but I just couldn't do it. So, it's ends happily.)





	

~~~~Greg smiled as he sat up, rubbing his eyes. The Cloud City Queen had thanked him for saving her city from the North Wind. They'd then had a party and everything for him! Greg hummed as he pushed the cold snow away from himself. When had it started snowing?

"Wirt?"

He turned, wasn't his brother just beside him?

There was a Wirt shaped lump in the soft snow beside him. Greg smiled and brushed it away, his grin spreading even wider as his fingers touched the fluffy white flakes, "Wirt, wake up!"

He uncovered his brother, still sleeping, and wrapped in the most peculiar branches. Dark branches that welled with shiny dark oil droplets and sprouted warm red leaves. They looked slightly familiar as if he'd seen them before. He cocked his head, smile dropping slightly as he asked hesitantly, "Wirt?"

Greg shook him.

Wirt did not wake. His face stayed as pale as the snow, his fingers stayed slightly purple, and his breath kept coming out in white puffs.

Greg realized where he'd seen the wood before. The Woodsman had been chopping down a tree of that exact color with burgundy leaves. A tree that wept black oil in rivulets. He suddenly remembered the nice Tavern Keeper's song. He hadn't been really listening very clearly and he'd only caught a few stanzas because the food was _really_ good. One line however kept circling in his head, " _For once your will begins to spoil, he'll turn you into a tree of oil and use you in his lantern for to burn!_ "

Greg franticly shook Wirt, "Wirt! Wake up!"

He stood and pulled at the branches covering his brother. He yanked and ripped but they simply wouldn't come off, "Wirt! Wake up! _Please_!"

Greg didn't remember when he started crying. He kept calling for Wirt and yanking on the branches for some time. Finally he collapsed next to Wirt, with his back to the tree beside him. Then he really began to cry. Huge sobs that welled up inside and came out in ragged gasps. The sort of crying that little children are good at, particularly in extremely distressing situations.

There was nothing he could do, his brother was stuck. Oh, he should've been leading better!

Greg wasn't really a crier at all, but the sort of unsolvable problem he'd found himself stuck in was certainly a very good excuse.

The sound of loud wails filled the small clearing by the river and his breath hitched painfully every few seconds. Big fat droplets rolled down his cheeks at the thought of his brother turned into a tree.

In fact, these tears were probably the very thing that saved Wirt.

Wirt had been wrapped in a dark warm place, sinking deeper and deeper into the clutches of the Beast. Everything was quiet and peaceful and muffled. He wasn't aware that he was standing on the threshold of sweet oblivion. Well, he had no idea that when he was fully transformed into a tree, encased by the Beast's magics, the gloves would come off. He had no idea that when he stepped off that ledge he would be lost forever in eternal torment of the Beast's own devising.

Well, anyway, for the moment it was dark and quiet. There were no worries, there were no fears, there was only silence. Of course, there was no joy, either.

Somewhere in Wirt's subconscious, he heard someone crying. Not just soft wails, but deep racking sobs. The more he listened, the more aware he became. That wasn't just a person crying, he thought, it was a child! The warmth and the silence seemed to blanket everything in thick layers that dulled the senses. It felt like he was slogging through a deep mire.

It was... It was _Greg_ crying! Greg never cried and there was something inside him that was deeply upset. Greg wasn't _supposed_ to cry! If he was crying it must've been very serious, indeed. Which meant that Greg might be in trouble... Which meant that Wirt had to wake up. He had to _**WAKE UP NOW.**_

It took a Herculean effort just to open his eyes, but somehow he did. Greg was crying and he needed to get up- he needed to move!

Everything was foggy, with shafts of moonlights streaming through dark scraggly branches and reflecting off the snow. He coughed and tried to speak, "G- Greg?"

His voice was quiet and it cracked but the crying stopped very suddenly as Greg spoke shakily between heavy sniffs, "Wirt?"

Suddenly Greg was standing in front of him, with wide eyes, and pale cheeks spattered with drying tears. His brother put his hand on his forehead, "Wirt? Are you awake?"

"Why- Why are you crying, Greg? A- are you okay?"

His teeth were chattering. Why were his teeth chattering? He wasn't that cold. The moment he thought about it, he thought, why wasn't he cold? He was snuggled in the snow quite well. Something in his head was telling him that a book had said this was a bad sign of frostbite. He needed to get moving. He told that part to shut up because he needed to find out why Greg was crying first.

Greg suddenly smiled, "Wirt! You're okay! You're awake!"

"Greg... W- Why are you c- crying?"

"Oh, you weren't waking up, Wirt, and then you- you started turning into a tree and... And I didn't want you to- to..." Greg was having difficulty saying it. He did finally manage, "I didn't want you to go away."

"A tree?"

Greg nodded and pointed.

Wirt's eyelids were heavy and he was shivering a great deal now as he finally felt the cold. There were branches wrapped around his fingers and legs, crawling up over his head and into his hat to create a deceivingly comfortable cushion. Wirt's eyes widened as he realized how close he'd come to death.

Another thought followed quickly after that, "Greg, are you alright, are you turning into...?"

Greg shook his head, "I'm fine, but Wirt how?"

He struggled to sit up, but the branches pressed down and curled tighter, seeming to say, " _Stay and submit, it's better this way... Stay and submit... Submit..._ "

Greg tugged and pulled. The more Wirt struggled and the more determined he got, the more the dark branches adorned with red leaves fell away. Actually, once the two boys got going, they were able to tear right through them.

Wirt struggled to his feet, shivering heavily, and breathing into his fingers. Greg's smile wavered and then suddenly he was crying again. Wirt stood in shock, before his long sleeping brotherly instincts took over. He knew this mess was all his fault, and now Greg was suffering because of it.

He pulled Greg into a hug and held him close as the small boy clutched him tightly in the hopes that this wasn't all going to go away again.

"I'm not going to fail you again, Greg, I promise."


End file.
